Obtaining Community Input in the Planning of Community Services: A Model.

A model for community services that stresses the necessity and value of community involvement in the planning of community service activities is presented. The role of the community service sector of the educational institution is to establish a center which will provide leadership in uniting and coordinating community efforts to meet individual and community needs. Community input into the identification of community needs and resources must be sought after by maintaining constant communication with community leaders, members of organizations which comprise the local bureaucratic understructure, key informants, and the general population. Community members must be led into playing an active role in the planning of community services. Once needs and resources are identified, community members must become the mobilizers of the resources, the initiators of action, and ultimately, the determinant of the success or failure of community service programs. To provide a structural component which demands active community involvement, the use of advisory committees made up of community members is recommended. The effective use of these committees results in the advantageous shifting of the responsibility for community services from the educational institution to groups of individual citizens. (Author/DB)